When Two Souls Become One
by Zelda Martial
Summary: Chapters 3 & 4 -- Renee and Yugi meet up for the first time, so what's going to happen now?
1. The Invitation

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Disclaimer:_ Whoo… another disclaimer thingy XP hehe… anywhoot, I don't own Yu-gi-oh! Though I'd like to own the Chaos Mage, Yugi and Yami Yugi. ^^; This story is a Rough Draft._

When Two Souls Become One

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By Zelda Martial*~

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Chapter One: The Invitation --complete--

I wasn't expecting the something that I received in the mail just before I was about to leave for my afternoon classes. I was sorting through my cards trying to create a new dueling deck for the Duelist's Kingdom tournament. I knew I was going to go to this competition because I had placed second at the World Duel Monster's tournament that had been held in Japan. I had been expecting a package about it for quite some time, but instead, I had just received a handwritten letter from the Duel Monsters creator himself. It was a letter inviting me to be his guest of honour and to compete in a friendly duel at the end of the Duelist's Kingdom tournament. There were also three cards enclosed. Two of the cards enclosed were dueling cards; a ritual and a fusion card. The ritual card was called 'Special Dark Magic Ritual' and the fusion card was the 'Magician of Black Chaos'; two of the rarest cards in the history of the game.

I couldn't understand why these cards were given to me or even why I was given the invitation to duel against Maximillion Pegasus himself. I took the third card and noted that the card was of a castle. Written below the picture were instructions: "Come to the Washington International Airport. Someone will be awaiting your arrival. Upon your landing in the Duelist's Kingdom, present this card to gain entry into the castle.

I await your arrival."

I closed my eyes and contemplated about whether or not to actually go traveling across the world to Japan; to bare witness to one of the greatest dueling tournaments of our time. How was I got to explain this to my mother? She barely let me compete in the World tournament because it had taken place in Japan and she hadn't ever approved of me playing Duel Monsters to begin with. She thought it was like playing the Poké mon card game: a complete waste of time. The only reason she allowed me to play Duel Monsters was because it had been my father who had gotten me interested in the game (much to my mother's dismay ) and after he passed away, it had been the only real thing that I could remember about doing with my father before then. I was about 10 then and I'm almost 17 now. However, even if it wasn't for my Dad, I still would have played Duel Monsters till I died. My Dad's death just kept my Mom from telling me that I could no longer play, even though I was now seventeen. She still treated me like a child and all of my interests like garbage. She had never cared about what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. After a moments more of silent meditation on the subject, I made my final decision. I heard my Mom enter through the front door so I quickly shoved my dueling cards and the invitation in my book bag.

"Hello Renee, heading off to class?"

"Yes Mom, just need to grab my lunch from the kitchen." I replied.

"Good girl." She then rustled her hand through my long ebony hair before I disappeared into the kitchen. I also grabbed a few other things, besides my lunch, before leaving through the front door with no intention of returning.


	2. The Healer and the Dragon

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Author's Note: This chapter was conceived on mass amounts of sugar and boredom even though it doesn't seem like it XP But I just couldn't think of anything to write on this chapter. Tell me what you think ^^; -- *~Zelda Martial~*

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Chapter Two: The Healer and the Dragon --complete--

When I arrived at school some fifteen minutes later, I knew at that moment that this was going to be a bad day. My teachers were in my face all day, and people were still constantly teasing me about playing Duel Monsters - as if I were the only person in the United States who did. By the time I had gotten to Math class, I had had the final straw. I had totally forgotten about the invitation to the Duelist's Kingdom tournament when I opened my math book, and when I opened it, the invitation fell to the ground and was picked up by my worst enemy. I didn't realize that he had it until it was too late.

I was busy with getting my math stuff in order so it wasn't until I heard '_Upon your landing in the Duelist's Kingdom, present this card to gain entry into the castle._' that I realized what had happened. Turning behind me, I glared at Peter with a look of intense hatred, but he just smirked me and stood up, as if trying to prove to the class his superiority.

"Give it back to me NOW Peter." I asked him nicely to return the invitation so that the conflict would just end, but as I had suspected, he was not going to make this thing easy for me.

"And why should I you freak?"  
Okay, that was it. No one called me a freak and got away with it. Without consciously realizing it, I grabbed my Duel Monster's deck from my back pack and summoned the first card that I drew.

"I summon Celtic Guardian in attack mode!"

The summoning, to say the least, scared every one of my classmates stupid, but Peter hadn't even flinched - at least that was the case until my Celtic Guardian placed his sword at Peter's neck. Once that had happened, Peter shakily offered me back my invitation card, which I took from him still very much angered, and once I had it, I shoved the card in my dueling deck and summoned back my Celtic Guardian just before our math teacher, Miss Kyte entered the room.

Peter, for his part, just stared back at me in horror, as did most of the other students, though some were mostly in shock and others in awe of what had just transpired.

I hadn't realized what had exactly happened, because I had never summoned a Duel Monster in that fashion before, and never had I done it even in a real duel. Before Miss Kyte could ask what had happened, I had gathered up my math items and my dueling deck and turned to leave the class. Just as I opened the door to leave, I could hear Peter calling out to me.

"And don't ever come back you freak!"

This had garnered Peter a severe reprimand from Miss Kyte, but before she could come after me, I had slammed the door shut so hard that the tiny glass window had shattered, spraying small bits and pieces of glass on the floor everywhere around me and in the classroom. If you couldn't tell, I was still very much upset.

It was at this point that I realized that I had nothing left to live for really. My own mother didn't seem to care about me and everyone at school thought I was some major freak. There was only one thing I had left to me and that was to play Duel Monsters.

I took the invitation card out of my deck again and studied it carefully.

"_Come to the Washington International Airport. Someone will be awaiting your arrival._" I whispered softly to myself. After a few moments, of careful thought, I knew what I had to do, even if it meant leaving everything I had here behind. With that, I began running towards the exit on the opposite side of my math class just as Miss Kyte opened the door to talk to me. Even as she called down the hall after me, I didn't stop running nor did I ever look back.

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By the time I had reached the edge of the school grounds, I still kept on running. Some force compelled me to do so and even if I had wanted to stop, I couldn't. It was almost as if some other spirit inside of me compelled me to move forward. However, I knew deep inside that I would never make it to the airport at a full run; my body just wouldn't be able to handle the intense exercise. I was able to make it as far as the park about fifteen miles south of the airport before collapsing into unconsciousness in an abandoned area of the park. As I lay there unmoving upon the ground, something amazing happened. As my dueling deck remained securely within my grasp, it began to glow and two of my cards began to float up into the air, shimmering in a bright golden light.

"My my, what has happened to the poor child?" One of the cards had now stopped shimmering and in it's place stood an aged woman of about fifty to sixty years. "We must heal her quick or she'll miss her plane, right Seiyaryu?" The second card had now stopped glowing and in it's place stood a massive purple dragon named Seiyaryu. The dragon did not speak, but nodded instead. "You know what you must do Seiyaryu, make sure she gets there. I will do my part now."

At that moment, the old woman began a soft chant. An aura then began surrounding me and even in my unconsciousness, I could see the woman hovering over my collapsed shell of a body the dragon just out of the corner of my eye.

"Dian… Keto… Seiya…ryu.." I tried whispering once the magic had begun to seep within my body. "How is that… possible?" I then lapsed into unconsciousness again. But Keto and Seiyaryu remained there healing my body. I did not know how they were doing it, but it was very welcome.

"Hush my daughter," Dian Keto replied as she had finished healing my body. "Soon, all will be revealed." Turning to Seiyaryu, she placed me upon his back while whispering something to him before disappearing in the same shimmering golden light that had brought her to the physical world. Once Seiyaryu felt I was secure, he spread his wings in preparation for flight. The gentle breeze that his magnificent pink wings created was enough to bring me back to my senses and just as my eyes opened, I found myself floating far away from the ground of which was once beneath the dragon. I then realized that Seiyaryu was not heading towards the airport, but I said nothing; I just couldn't speak. The view of the world I left behind was breathtaking. I knew not how this dragon was truly summoned or where it was that he was taking me; all I knew for sure was the fact that something new and exciting was about to happen to me. 


	3. Theft of the Millennium Items and Master...

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Author's Note: *is giggly happy* Well, I have a reason to keep writing this ^^; Even though I'm no longer in school to keep updating this, my county library *which I frequent often* has a computer set up where I can actually use a floppy disk. In other words, I can update this whenever I get a chapter up and running. If it wasn't for my readers, I probably would have sacked this story a long time ago just because I couldn't update it, but now I keep on writing it for those of you who want to see it done. *grins* May put up what I have of Chapter Four if you're lucky ;)

***brief Chapter 3 note*: **If this chapter seems a bit confusing, I'm glad to know it's not just me 0.0; Like I've said, this story's a rough draft. Hopefully I will get it sorted out before I upload XP Either that or I will let it explain itself at the end of the story like I planned ^^; edit: *scratch that -- it's explained in this chappy ^^; kinda anyway XP*

~Zelda Martial

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Chapter Three: Theft of the Millennium Items and Master Appears --complete--

We flew on for several hours before we reached the Pacific Ocean, continuing our journey towards the Duelist's Kingdom To keep ourselves occupied, we playfully dove in and out of waves and even saw a spectacular display of Orcas as they followed us on our journey. My first thought of something terrible about to happen was when the whales started to drop off in numbers and an oddly shaped dorsal fin broke the waves just ten miles outside Duelist's Kingdom. As soon as the body of the beast broke the surface, I knew exactly what it was.

"Seiyaryu, fly higher!" I commanded the dragon. However, the great burst of speed that Seiyaryu had put on had caused me to loose my balance and too fall off of his back. I didn't know if I ever hit the ocean's surface because I had lost consciousness as soon as I fell off Seiyaryu. The Great White charged towards me with all his ferocity, but was stopped short by another Duel Monster.

"Stop right there Great White!"

Great White recoiled from the sound and touch of his enemy, The Enchanted Mermaid.

"I have no fight with you witchy Mer," Great White hissed in response. "Give up the girl and I shall spare your life."

"We cannot nor will we give up the girl to you to bring back to your Master Great White." Another monster had been summoned and never had Great White ever lain his eyes upon Gyakutenno Megami. "Tell your Master that if he wants Renee that badly, he'll have to come get her himself."

Great White began to charge towards Megami, but she was too quick for him.

"Water Element, mist attack now!" Out of the ocean's watery depths, Megami had summoned Water Element to blind her opponent so that she could make a quick getaway with me in her arms high above the ocean. Once she had made her escape, the Enchanted Mermaid and Water Element disappeared back into their cards leaving behind Great White, blind as fish without water. Reluctantly turning away from the direction his enemy had just escaped to, Great White swam off and returned to his Master to bring the word of Gyakutenno Megami to him.

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I had no idea how I had ended up lying upon a sandy beach, when I came to, but as I soaked up the Sun's remaining daylight, I didn't care. I was alive and at the moment, that was all that mattered to me. My thoughts drifted to Seiyaryu, for I had no idea where he had gone when we were separated back above the ocean, and something in my heart just wasn't going away – the pain that something had happened to him. I didn't think much of it because the first thing that was on my mind was to find out just where exactly it is I was. I got up off the beach and dusted the wet sand off my clothes as best as I could before grabbing my backpack, which had faired pretty well during it's stint in the ocean, and began heading off to where I heard voices.

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"Come on Yugi, that was not funny."

"It's true Joey." Yugi replied to his friend's comment. "I don't know how it's true, but it is." Yugi had played his last monster in attack mode and beat Joey at Duel Monsters again.

"Man, I think I'm dueled out of this entire tournament." Joey said as he picked up his cards and fell backwards upon the ground beneath him and stretched. 

"No kidding," Yugi replied. "And it's only just begun." He too stretched out upon the ground beneath him. Téa and Tristan had already fallen asleep a short while before, but Bakura had been walking around the perimeter of their encampment, almost expecting something bad to happen. I silently waited amongst the shadows just outside Bakura's view until he too had gone to rest. When that happened, I slowly crept up to their dying fire and placed some more wood upon it. It was going to be cold tonight, and even though these people were complete strangers to me, I wanted to make sure that they remained well. I could sense that they still had a great journey ahead of them.

I walked next to each of the group laying upon the ground and when I neared Yugi, the golden aura appeared again and it was then that I noticed Bakura's Millennium Ring and Yugi's Millennium Puzzle; both items of which I was eternally bound to by the fated cards within my dueling deck – the fabled Millennium Item Cards which only existed in the Shadow World of which I came from. Many a time had I collected all six of the cards, and many duels have I surrendered to protect the future of this realm, for the powerful magic sealed within the Millennium Item Cards would summon the sacred Trinity for which I was a part of.

I was born as one of three guardians to the Sacred Barrier, and the other two guardians, and my true powers, could only be summoned when the thirteen Millennium Items came together; which is where the power of the cards came in. That power could only be unleashed when the Sacred Barrier dividing the Shadow Realm and the Shadow World fell, thus allowing Evil to permeate the Shadow World where all of the Duel Monsters existed. That is why I had to surrender those duels. I had to protect the Earth.

This was never more apparent to me than at the World Tournament last year when I had made it all the way to the final duel against Seto Kaiba. The whole game had been extremely close, but every time Kaiba summoned one of his rare Blue Eyes White Dragons, I already laid out the perfect trap. I had the duel in the bag and then I drew the one card that would force me to surrender. I always cursed this dreaded magic card, but had I used it to activate the other five Millennium Item Cards, the history of the Earth would have been altered and the future changed. For every turn that I drew the sixth Millennium Item card, I would either have to summon its true powers, or surrender the duel. As long as the Shadow Realm, and the Shadow World existed, and the sacred barrier between them kept in place, it would forever be my duty to guard it.

Renee is simply my alias: a face and a body to protect me from the ensuing evil about to descend upon the Earth again. But over the seventeen years that I have existed on this world, through the natural human birth, I've become ever more human, about ready to lose my ties to the true world in which I came from. Only now do I realize why it was my mother had tried to keep me from playing Duel Monsters. I think, deep inside of her, somehow she knew of who I truly was and even though I had come from another world, I was still her daughter and her responsibility. I also think that deep down, my father realized my fate as well, for he was the one who taught me how to duel and gave me the cards I possessed in my deck – save for the Millennium Item Cards and the two cards I received from Maximillion Pegasus. But wait… he hadn't sent them to me… I remember sending those special cards to him myself years ago. Could it be that he is returning them to me because he feels that I will need them, or is there some other powerful force at work here? I just didn't know anything anymore.

I can feel myself become more and more human everyday. Is that why Renee – is that why I didn't realize how I was able to summon real live Duel Monsters?

As I stand here now, over Yugi and gazing into his Millennium Puzzle, I sense Master's wrath and his evil permeating over the Duelist's Kingdom. He will come for them soon for once he has possession of all seven of the true Millennium Items, he will be able to breech the sacred barrier between the Shadow Realm and the Shadow World and to destroy the once fragile peace the Pharaoh of old had sacrificed his life to protect, thus sealing his soul in the Millennium Puzzle. Could this boy be the chosen one?

Digging into my backpack, I found my pocket knife and returning to Bakura's side, I began to cut the rope that was holding the Millennium Ring around the boy's neck. Once I had cut through the rope, I carefully placed the Millennium Ring in my backpack and walked over to Yugi.

"Ancient Pharaoh," I whispered softly. "If you truly exist within this puzzle, I must take you to safety for the sake of both you and little Yugi." In response to my words, the Millennium Puzzle briefly shimmered and then returned to its normal state. After that, I bent down and began to cut the rope binding the puzzle to Yugi. Just as my knife touched the rope I could tell that darkness was quickly falling all around me.

"I must hurry or it'll be too late to save you." I whispered to the puzzle again. After about five minutes, I heard the rope finally break, but no sooner did I stand up then He appeared; alone and very much his evil self.

"I must thank you for doing my dirty work, though I must admit it's been very difficult to find you."

As He spoke, I didn't turn around. Even though I knew he knew that I had the Millennium Puzzle in my possession, I did not, however, want him to be able to take it from me.

"Well," I began in reply. "I'm still not going to make it easy for you to capture me or the Millennium Items in my possession. If you really want them that badly, come fight me for them."

With the Millennium Puzzle tightly within my grasp, I grabbed my deck with one hand and grabbed the first card on top.

"I summon the magic power of 'Gift of Flight'!" Having activated the power vested within the magic card, I took off for the sky, trying to get as far away as I could from Yugi and his friends.

"Two can play this game." Master replied after I had flown far off into the distance. "Come to me, Seiyaryu!"

Despite the distance that I had put between me and Master, I still could hear the words that he uttered. It caused me to stop in mid air and watch in horror as he rode my once proud dragon who served the side of the Shadow World, be reduced to utter despair.

I didn't have time to contemplate what had happened further, because Master had come quickly upon me and summoned Swords of Revealing Light. I couldn't move, but I clutched the Millennium Puzzle extremely close to me.

"Give up the two Millennium Items in your possession you pathetic weakling." Master commanded me. "Your puny summoning powers are no match against mine."

"That may be," I struggled to speak through my clenched teeth. "But it is my sworn and sacred duty to protect all thirteen of the Millennium Items, including the sacred seven. You shall not have them so long as I draw breath upon this world." I took my deck in my frozen hand and dropped the card that was placed on top and summoned its power. "Dispel magic!" I called as my Dispel card floated weightlessly to the ground. Swords of Revealing Light disappeared and much to my surprise, Seiyaryu came out from under the effects of the Change of Heart card that was placed upon him and he then allowed me to drop upon his back. Seiyaryu didn't even need to be commanded to take flight; he knew me well enough to know when to flee from battle. Even though I had escaped the clutches of Master of Evil, he had summoned one final card that was placed upon me and my dragon before he left. I knew not when I'd see him again, but I knew that it would not be pleasant when I did.


	4. The Crush Card

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Author's Note: Well, by the time you read this, I'll have just uploaded Chapter Three along with this XP So Chapters Three and Four are done with Five coming soon (I hope XP) Read and enjoy! J (Already formulating the sequels in my head ^^;)

~Zelda Martial

Chapter Four: The Crush Card --complete-- 

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Seiyaryu and I flew on back towards the encampment but just as we were about a hundred feet away, the ill effect of the Crush Card finally began to hit us. I could tell it was hitting Seiyaryu harder as he quickly began loosing altitude. As I quickly gazed at the ground in front of us, I noticed that we were on a direct collision course with Yugi and his friends.

"My dragon, please hear me; you must pull up!" I cried to Seiyaryu, but he hadn't heard me, which meant only one thing. Quickly looking through my deck, I grabbed the one card that would save everyone.

"Activate trap card, Waboku!" I summoned the card just in time as my dragon and I had hit ground just in front of the group of friends. We had passed right through them as the effect of Waboku caused them to momentarily disappear from the real world. When Seiyaryu and I finally stopped, we were several hundred feet away in the shallow waters of the ocean. Still holding onto the Millennium Puzzle, I slipped off Seiyaryu's back and splashed into the ocean, with barely enough strength to make it onto the sandy beach.

Meanwhile, Yugi had woken up with a start as he heard a tremendous splash coming from the direction of the ocean and he was not aware that his puzzle was missing. I still held the puzzle close to my chest, but I could hear Yugi not to far off coming towards me to see what was going on. I was surprised that his friends hadn't woken up too, but in the end, I figured it was better that way.

"How much longer must we fight Spirit?" I whispered to the puzzle. "I don't know how much longer I can protect you."

"Then don't protect me."

"But I can't do that. I would be breaking the sacred law of which I've been eternally bound to."

"Don't worry. I will be safe so long as I am in His hands."

I propped myself up on one arm and gazed upon my dragon, holding the puzzle still within my arms. I knew so long as he was infected with the Crush Card, I would not be able to summon him back without infecting my whole dueling deck with the virus. I knew the card that could save him, however, I also knew that I didn't possess it. But maybe He did… Standing up, I faced the ocean and as the Millennium Puzzle gave off an aura of golden light, Yugi soon saw the damage that had been caused by Master.

"What happened here?"

It was then that I stood up and let the glow of the Millennium Puzzle reveal myself. Yugi gasped as he turned to face me, as it was at that moment that he realized that his puzzle had gone missing. However, once he had seen me with his puzzle, he somehow felt at ease with my presence and holding his puzzle that he shifted his gaze back towards my dragon.

"He and I have both been infected by a Crush Card. I haven't yet felt the full effects of the virus, but because Seiyaryu is not immortal, like myself, he has succumbed to its illness."

"Who would do such a thing?" Yugi asked, not having fully realized yet what it was that I had said.

"There is one who is." I replied. "A being beyond this world who is seeking out The Seven in order to rule over all." I looked down at the puzzle just then, realizing that I should give it back now before any more time passed. "It is for that reason I took Bakura's Millennium Ring and your Millennium Puzzle. I thought that as long as they were in my keeping that they would remain safe until the threat of Evil passed, but I was in error. He came after me and Seiyaryu and now we have paid the price." I walked towards Yugi, offering him back that which was rightfully his. "The Spirit located within your Millennium Puzzle was correct when he said to me that I should not protect him, even though it is my sacred duty to do so. So long as I hold him within my care, he is in more danger than he is with you."

"He told you that?" Yugi asked out of curiosity.

I nodded. "I don't know how it is he remembers who I am, maybe it is the power located within my own Millennium Item, letting him have a clue as to why it is I have sought him out. Until this moment Yugi, when I had first taken your puzzle from you, I had totally forgotten who it is I truly am and why it is I am here. But now, it's slowly coming back to me. Soon, you will have to guide the spirit within your puzzle to find out who he is and help him remember why it is his soul was trapped within the Millennium Puzzle thousands of years ago."

Yugi looked at me in fascination and concern. I knew I had already burdened him with so much, but he must find out this now to truly follow his destiny.

"You said that you possess a Millennium Item also; which one?"

I regarded Yugi intensely with my aquamarine eyes as I contemplated whether or not to reveal the Shadow World to him. I knew that I should, but he hadn't quite figured out the power of his puzzle. How could I make him understand that the fate of his entire world rested upon his and the spirit of his puzzle's shoulders?

"I'm afraid, at this moment in time anyway, you're better off not knowing Yugi. Besides, the only Millennium items that you have to worry about are the seven sacred Millennium items for which your puzzle is one of, for those seven Millennium items alone are powerful enough to destroy entire worlds without the help of the other six. All I will tell you at this moment is that I posses one of the 'other' six Millennium items that only exist in the Shadow World."

"Then why are you here?"

"To be honest, I don't know why I'm here. But even though I know we've never met before, I feel as if we were destined to do so. With the spirit hidden away within your Millennium Puzzle, I have a feeling things are just going to get more interesting with each passing moment."

Several moments of silence passed between me and Yugi. As I was still gazing upon my dragon, I could tell that Yugi was bursting with questions he wanted to ask me. After a while, he got the courage to ask me one of his questions.

"What is the Shadow World?" He asked me in a whispered voice.

I turned towards him and grinned. I had been waiting for just this moment.

"If you will let me borrow your dueling deck, I will not only tell you," I replied, "I will show you as well."

Yugi stared at me with his violet eyes and I knew what he was thinking; 'Could I be trusted?'

"Believe in her." The spirit within his puzzle whispered to him.

Yugi still wasn't sure, but he trusted whole heartedly in the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle so he reached into the jacket pocket of his school uniform and handed to me the Deck of Destiny.


End file.
